Re: Website Modules
Andrea Yun's teacher training modules are the most concise, organized, and thoughtful resources for pedagogy on the internet or in-person. She covers every topic in pedagogy in a sequential order, in which each topic expands on the last--leading to a profound and dilatant understanding and application of the principles. Especially in the realm of technique--which can feel overwhelming to teach--Andrea facilitates the connection between and cognizance of how technical aspects interact and inform one another, creating a vast web of interconnected ideas from which a teacher can pull during a lesson. Andrea presents clear, simple, and concrete language to talk about complex technique with students; since implementing her ground-breaking "Concept List" into my teaching philosophy, my students' understanding, execution, and retention of technique has improved 100x!
I also love how Andrea expands beyond technique and delves into more human issues such as democratic teaching, equitable programs, motivation, and cultivating diversity within your studio. Her mission of ensuring that both teacher training and music lessons are accessible and affordable to all reflects her deep kindness and desire to create a more compassionate world.
As Suzuki teachers, we strive to develop "the whole person" in our students through music, seeking more beauty in their character as they seek more beauty in their sound. Andrea transposes this philosophy up a level--developing "the whole person" in each teacher, facilitating a search for more beauty in our character as we search for more beauty in how we guide our students.
-- Emma Schwarz, CO
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Andrea is a thoughtful and clear educator. This resource is well though through, clear, and genuinely enjoyable! It has been invaluable to me and my studio, breathing new life into my teaching during this pandemic. I’m blown away how much material she has provided in the modules. And yet, she doesn’t overcomplicate things. Everything is stripped down to its basic parts. If you are an educator (or student!) of this beautiful instrument, you can’t afford NOT to invest in the well of wisdom Andrea has provided. Do it!
-- Ellen Kilcup, WA
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Re: Cellympics for Teachers (online)
Andrea's sense of fun in her teaching is completely contagious! As a teacher for over 40 years, it is easy to become set in my ways. I appreciate the games approach (along with some healthy competition) and learning through play that her Cellympics program offers. Each event has one or more very clear pedagogical goals which are clearly presented in a participatory setting. Andrea works with teachers with the utmost respect and in a very collegial way. I came out of her workshop with new inspiration in my teaching and my students have been benefitting ever since.
-- Martha Vallon, WI
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Andrea presented a great series of exercises and concepts in her workshop for teachers. She has a knack for creating engaging activities that would be appropriate for a wide range of learners. If you get a chance to take one of her workshops jump!
-- Jeanne Fox, NY
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Re: Practicum Unit (online)
This course was very insightful. You provided clear teaching strategies with follow though ideas that could be used immediately for my teaching. I can't recommend taking a class with you enough.
-- Karla Hamelin, TX
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Re: Suzuki Unit 1 (online)
I wish I could take your Book 2 next month!!!! This was the highlight of my year.
-- Jasmine Watkins, GA
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It was a game-changer for me. I learned so much, it was clear and was laid out very well. The work we did outside the class enhanced my learning experience immensely. It allowed me to interact with the material in 3+ ways (lecture style in modules, follow-up in class discussions, and in practice while watching the observations). Usually I need months after a class with this much info to digest before I can even imagine putting it into practice in a way that feels natural to me, but I felt like I could add these concepts to my teaching life quite quickly because of how thoroughly I absorbed them through the class and homework. Andrea is a gift to the education community, and I feel so grateful to be able to have the affects of her teaching in my studio. I feel more confident in my work with my students, and frankly I’m just having more fun with my lessons as well. So are my students by the way. which is obviously the point!
-- Ellen Kilcup, WA
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This was the first online version of the course, and I think it was very successful and well laid-out. Some aspects of being online allowed for deeper engagement with the material, such as having content spread out over a longer time and being able to revisit concept videos as many times as needed. It also felt like there was more class time available to discuss real-world situations beyond the course materials. Obviously there were some drawbacks to being online, like not being able to practice applying concepts and the feel/touch aspect of teaching.
-- Ruby Brallier, OH
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I loved the experience! I think we could spend a little less time on talking about the suzuki philosophy, so we can get to the actual pedagogy earlier, but outside of that it was great. Andrea is one of the brightest and greatest teachers I've ever met and I hope to continue to get advice and training from her.
-- Carrington Truehart, TN
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I learned a lot, perhaps even more than I thought possible for an online course. I would recommend training with Andrea to anyone. She’s incredibly knowledgeable, approachable and so helpful.
-- Marty McMillan, UT
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Andrea is a wonderful teacher, so thoughtful about her students, both her studio students and her teacher trainees, mindful of what they bring to class and what she can offer. Her switch to online teaching was seamless and maybe even enhanced as she provided such a stable of clear, organized information online, while the class time was used to build on that. Wonderful person, wonderful teaching!
-- Rachel Young, MD
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It was a wonderful experience. I learned a lot about communicating with students as well as the heart of Suzuki teaching and I also received many new views on different technical aspects of playing the cello, and so much more. It was pretty easy to connect with everyone in spite of everything being online. It was so nice to be able to watch the modules before class and have class time to discuss. There were times where it was definitely overwhelming or it seemed like there was quite a lot of work to do before class, However, it turned out to be well worth it to have that availability for discussion and time for questions. Andrea made everything really fun too, so I loved that. Since the course is a lot of hours, I may have personally preferred if it were a little more spread out over a longer period of time. Also, I wasn’t really sure what we were going to be talking about at each class, but if there was maybe a kind of schedule that generally said what she was planning to go over, I think I could have organized my notes a little better and been a little more prepared with questions and things, but that’s a minor thing. Overall, it really was fantastic!
-- anonymous
Re: Suzuki Unit 2 (online)
As with your Book 1 training, this course was so thoughtfully laid out and organized, I appreciated so much having the ability to go back and rewatch your modules. Watching them, discussing them with you, and then being able to teach my own students, and then in full circle bring back follow-up questions to our discussions taught me so much. Also, having the online modules is so helpful because I have already gone back and re-rewatched some of them as the content as settled in my own mind and teaching more, and have continuously learned from them.
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In addition to the wealth of teaching information I also have learned so much practical information about running a studio as a business, and how to manage different personalities, and relationships within my studio. You being such an open book about your experiences and the business side of things was so helpful and was something I did not expect to learn through this process (learning different things from both units 1 and 2).
I was always engaged and invested in our class time, and it was clear you were invested in our time together as well.
Thank you so much for your generosity with your time and knowledge throughout these sessions, I have gained countless life-long skills...and my studio has already tripled since starting book 1! I have already seen such an advancement in my teaching (and my own playing), thank you, thank you, thank you!!
-- Jamie Gallupe, MI
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I really enjoyed this workshop. Especially when we had to teach a sample group lesson for teaching feedback. I learned a lot about how I teach, and it was an opportunity to reflect on how I can improve.
-- Johnny Walker, Jr., MD
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Re: Suzuki Unit 3 (online)
I absolutely love the video modules that Andrea creates for the class. It allows me the time to take notes, rewind, and review the material that she is presenting. She is truly excellent at making clear and content rich videos. Andrea is one of those people you just want to sit and talk to forever, discussing technique and all aspects of teaching. She is so fun and incredibly supportive.
-- Benjamin Krug, NY
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I liked that in this unit we were very technical and had plenty of time to discuss technique and more tangible obstacles. I think in the previous two training sessions having more philosophical teaching discussions was very appropriate but in book 3 it was nice to focus more on the music, and also the business side of things. I thought it was very practical- by the time you have students in book 3 probably you've likely established the basics already so it was great to talk about this side of teaching.
As it was in all the other units, your online modules are brilliant and have completely transformed how I perceive and teach my students. Through them I have been able to recognize the root of issues that my own students were showing and knew exactly how to fix them. In the instances of a few very specific questions from my own students- after bringing them to the group I got very practical advice that I was able to apply in my lessons quite literally the next day.
This unit was so practical, organized, and helpful.
A change in flow from prior units was that individuals who clearly did not prepare for discussions or class were kindly reminded of such and did not participate as much. I appreciated that as someone who's always prepared- that those who were showing up unprepared were not taking away discussion time because of it. I'm sure that's a fine balancing act but I thought it was very well moderated and there was never any shame cast by any means.